Nightmares
by Annabeth Brady
Summary: Sometimes... Nightmares aren't such a bad thing... **Written Ages Ago! SkyWard. CONTAINS SOME SWEARING**


**_Well, I wrote this AGES ago and thought that since there are still a few "SkyWard" shippers out there (ya know, way over yonder) I would post it. _**

**WARNING: CONTAINS SWEARING****_. _**

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She tossed and turned in her sleep, the soft sheets of the bed tangling in her slumber.

_"You're nothing but a pathetic little orphan!" her foster-father said. His blue eyes were cold and filled with hatred. Skye knew that as he raised his hand, this would be the last strike he made on her tonight. She'd pass out from the pain, but even as she was in her pain induced sleep, she'd be aching all over. This monster had hit her more times then she could count in the short three weeks that she had been in this festering hello-hole. His wife was wonderful, no questions asked, but how in the name of all that is good and pure did she marry a sick bastard like him? _

_Skye was only fourteen at the time of this foster home but, no matter the time put between her and this memory, the pain was still evident in her eyes and body. Skye may have carried herself with dignity, but that was merely the cover. The cover that protected the young orphan just wishing, hoping, for a real family to call her own. _

_"You are a worthless piece of shit my wife found in an orphanage. You deserve to die!" He backhanded her cheek with everything he had mustered in the alcohol filled daze. The sound reverberated through her teeth and brain, the slap sounding louder than it should in her ears. Darkness filled her mind as she blanked out onto the stone cold floor below. _

Screams filled the bunk as Skye awoke from the nightmare. Her heart pounded in her chest as she put her fingertips to the cheek that was hit all those years ago. Lights flickered outside the small room as the bus roared to life at the sound of the screams. Voices were groggy but alert as they tried to comprehend the sudden wake up call.

Agent Grant Ward was already awake when the screams came through the walls of his bunk. As he pushed himself up from the bed, placing his book down in the process, he prepared for the chitter-chatter of FitzSimmons and Skye as they thought. But when he arrived outside in the lounge of the bus, he noticed that Coulson and Skye were missing from the group.

"The scream was higher pitched than most, but it was also louder, Fitz. Thus meaning that the scream was female and close." Simmons spoke. Even at two o'clock in the morning, her voice was the epitome of English articulation and manners.

Fitz voice was slurred and groggy as he responded to his female counterpart. "But, it also sounded hoarse. As though it wasn't the first scream." _It wasn't,_ Grant thought. "Besides, who would try to wake us up at two o'clock in the morning? In the middle of an air field, at that."

Coulson came through the hall from the bunks, his red pyjamas falling to the floor neatly. "You may all return to your bunks, everyone. It was just an accidental recording." May and Ward knew he was lying, but also knew that the senior agent had reason for everything he did. "Not you, Ward." As all the other agents returned to their bunks, Grant Ward sat carefully on the leather seat, waiting for the reason of their awakening to reveal herself.

He heard her before he saw her appear. Her long brown hair was in a sloppy pony-tail and her face was devoid of any makeup. Grant still thought she looked stunning – wait, what? Shaking his head slightly, he looked towards his timid rookie. Skye's eyes were puffy and red, her small figure was shaking and it were as though she were having a flashback. He didn't realise how correct he was. As she sat down, he walked towards Agent Coulson. "She was having a nightmare, Agent Ward."

"I gathered as much, sir. What type of nightmare?" responded the Supervising Officer of the resident hacker.

Phil shook his head, "She wouldn't tell me. It must have been pretty bad for her not to tell 'A.C'. Maybe she won't tell you, but at least try to calm her down. But not as her 'Supervising Officer', as her friend. Understood, _Grant_?" Ward almost flinched at the sound of his own name but knew, just as well as anyone, he needed to speak with Skye as somebody who had also dealt with his own childhood demons. He understood how she felt. Somewhat.

Grant Ward slowly returned to the lounge to see Skye pull her shaky legs to her chest and wrap her arms around her legs. He slowly moved to sit beside her, watching as tears pricked her brown eyes. "You okay?" he said, unaware of how to deal with this. She nodded wordlessly.

Silence encased the pair as they sat side by side on the leather seat. "Sorry for waking you up…" she said at last.

He looked to her softly, his eyes trying to say _I want to help you, but I can't if you avoid the problem. _"It's fine, Skye. Everybody gets nightmares. You seemed pretty shook up, want to talk about it? I have a shoulder for you too." She made a small smile at the reference.

As Grant gently caressed her cheek as a subtle gesture, he saw the fear seep into her eyes. Her body closed up even more and she shut her eyes tightly to hide the tears that threatened to spill. He pulled his hand away quickly and pushed himself off the seat to stand right in front of the distraught hacker.

"What happened?" there was no room so softness now, he was pissed that somebody had made her cry like this, scream until she didn't have a voice.

Ward began seeing red at the edge of his vision and took note to calm himself down before he did or said something he'd regret. She remained seated as she remembered the vivid nightmare.

"I was remembering something from one of my more… painful… foster homes." Her voice croaked towards the end and Ward felt the uncharacteristic urge to wrap his own arms around her small body and pull her close.

He walked beside her again and sat down, gently easing her into his now relaxed arms. She held onto his snug white V-Neck like a lifeline as she slowly began to soak in shirt in tears. He rubbed his right hand up and down her back and moved his left underneath her legs as he moved her into his lap. Skye had her head on his chest as he stroked her luscious brown locks. "It's not exactly your shoulder…"

He smiled at the witty comment and continued stroking her hair softly. "Very funny, little Miss Skye. Now seriously, what was it about?"

Her voice was very soft as she fought the pain seeping into her chest as she relived the memory. "The- The husband was abusive." She stuttered, her voice speeding up towards the end, "He would hit the others and me until we passed out. Sometimes the memories aren't that bad, but other times I relive it as though it's happening again." He wrapped his arms around her body tighter for reassurance - his or hers, he wasn't sure.

She smiled up at him softly, happy to see a less robotic side of her SO.

"In some ways, I'm kind of glad you had the nightmare…" her eyes suddenly woke up as she thought about the meaning of his comment, "I'm not glad you had the nightmare itself, but if you didn't…" he struggled for the right word.

"I wouldn't have gotten away with this." She finished for him. Just as he was about to ask her what she meant, a soft pair of lips touched his, igniting fire within the pit of his stomach. What the feeling was, he didn't know. She pulled away from him slowly, then rested her head against his chest again.

He smiled down at her and kissed her temple softly, smelling the apple shampoo. "You definitely wouldn't have gotten away with that, Skye."

She chuckled into his chest as she nuzzled further into his chest. "I guess nightmares can be helpful."

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**_I guess that's it for now. Hope whoever reading enjoyed and don't forget..._**

**REVIEW! :)**


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